Angola unveils US$44B 2017 budget, sees economic growth of 2.1 %

Angola, which has been hard hit by depressed oil prices, on Friday unveiled a 2017 budget of 7.3 trillion kwanza ($44.22 billion) with a budget deficit of 5.9 percent of gross domestic product.

Aia-Eza da Silva – Angola State Secretary for Budget

Aia-Eza Silva, the budget state secretary, told reporters the budget forecasts sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest economy to grow 2.1 percent next year compared with estimates of 1.3 percent this year, and is based on an average crude oil price in 2017 of $46 a barrel.

Angola, which is heavily dependent on crude exports, has had to slash spending and growth forecasts before. In July Luanda halved its 2016 economic growth forecast and slashed government spending as lower oil prices hammered state revenues.